By MARTHA AGAS

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has officially unveiled the Simplified Customs Advanced Declaration System (SCADS) at the international wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

The move is aimed at improving passenger clearance, compliance and customs operations.

A statement on the inauguration was made available to newsmen by the NCS spokesperson, Abdullahi Maiwada, on Tuesday in Abuja.

Maiwada explained that the platform, designed to simplify baggage declaration for inbound international passengers, aims to reduce manual bottlenecks, improve transparency in revenue assessment and enhance operational efficiency at Nigeria’s international airports.

Speaking at the inauguration, Oluyomi Adebakin, Deputy Comptroller-General of Customs in charge of ICT/Modernisation, said the deployment of SCADS marked another major step in the service’s digital transformation agenda.

Adebakin said the initiative became necessary to address operational challenges encountered on the service’s previous passenger declaration platform earlier this year.

She explained that rather than allowing the setbacks to slow operations, the service chose to develop a stronger and more efficient alternative.

“When the earlier platform experienced operational challenges, we chose not to see it as a setback. We saw it as an opportunity to build something better, stronger and more efficient,” she said.

According to her, the newly introduced SCADS platform allows passengers to declare items before arrival, thereby reducing clearance time while improving compliance and operational integrity.

“For passengers, this system creates the opportunity for advance declaration before arrival. It means faster clearance, easier compliance and smoother movement through our airports,” she added.

She said that the system would eliminate subjective revenue assessment by ensuring that duties were being automatically generated based on declared items, their quantities and actual values.

“When we talk about revenue collection, it is not about collecting more or less. It is about collecting the right revenue. With this system, assessment will now be more objective, accurate and driven by data,” she said.

On her part, Comptroller Victoria Alibo, Customs Area Controller, FCT Area Command, described the selection of the command for the pilot phase as a vote of confidence in its operational capacity.

Alibo said the new platform integrates passenger baggage and e-commerce declarations into a single digital framework designed to support global Customs best practices.

“SCADS is designed to simplify declarations, reduce clearance time, eliminate manual bottlenecks and align our operations with international standards,” Alibo said.

She said that the pilot phase would run for five days, from May 18 to May 22, during which officers would evaluate the system in a live environment ahead of nationwide deployment.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event was attended by senior Customs officers, officials of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, partner government agencies, technical teams, and other key stakeholders in Nigeria’s aviation and border management ecosystem. (NAN)